Monday, July 2, 2012

2 July 2006 - Beckham Hands In The Armband

On 2 July 2006, one day after England's World Cup elimination by Portugal, David Beckham stepped down as team captain.

England had reached the quarterfinals before falling to Portugal on penalties. Beckham missed much of the match, having been forced to the bench in the 52nd minute due to injury. He was tearful at his press conference the next day to announce his resignation of the arm band, but expressed his intent to remain with the team.

The match against Portugal was his 94th cap. He first captained England in 2000 under caretaker manager Peter Taylor and held on to the armband for almost six years. In that time, he experienced several personal high points, including a dramatic late equalizer against Greece to qualify England for the 2002 World Cup and a penalty winner against Argentina to reach the quarterfinals of that tournament. But he also suffered through some lows, such as a missed penalty in a Euro 2004 loss to Portugal and an ejection against Austria in a qualifier for the 2006 World Cup that made him the first player to receive two red cards for England.

After initially being dropped by new manager Steve McClaren after the 2006 World Cup, Beckham returned to the national team in 2007 and eventually extended his cap total to 115. He even captained the side once more, in March 2008 game against Trinidad and Tobago.